In addition to the poverty records, the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government produced, in just three years, an impressive number of millionaires – much more than in the Lula and Dilma Rousseff governments.
The numbers reveal what experts have already been pointing out: Bolsonaro will leave a legacy of more social inequality.
From January 2019 to December 2021, the country registered 2.1 million people with annual income above BRL 1 million – 1% of the population.
In the period, 562,000 Brazilians joined this club, while 62.5 million plunged into poverty – 29.4% of the population, according to the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics).
Between 2003 and 2014 —a period that includes Lula’s two terms and Dilma’s first— Brazilians with more than R$ 1 million in income increased from 18.5 thousand to 29.8 thousand, concentrated in SP, RJ, MG, RS and PR. This contingent represented 0.1% of the population at the time.
The increase in wealth among the very rich began to gain traction after the impeachment of former President Dilma in 2016. Both former President Michel Temer, who succeeded her, and Bolsonaro conducted pro-market policies.
Between 2019 and 2021, RR and RO were the states that most accounted for new wealthy people — 1,588 and 10,147, respectively. They recorded the highest growth rates—67% and 63%.
In sequence, the highest rises were in TO (59%), MT and SC (55%), PA (51.5%), GO and MA (48.5%).
Despite the growth of millionaires in the interior of the country, the highest concentration remains in SP (780,619), RJ (226,254), MG (189,785), RS (161,858), PR (156,870) and SC (103,378) —78% of the total.
Market analysts point out that this growth is linked to the expansion of the agricultural frontier in the country, which internalized the fortune related to this sector. This movement allowed luxury brands to diversify their sales, previously concentrated in the Rio-São Paulo axis.
Political scientists believe that the new geography of wealth, concentrated in agribusiness locations, helps explain the strengthening of conservatism in these states, which culminated in the preference for Bolsonaro in this year’s elections – with the exception of Maranhão, which preferred the elected president, Lula.
Julio Wiziack (interim) with Paulo Ricardo Martins and Diego Felix
I have over 10 years of experience working in the news industry. I have worked for several different news organizations, including a large news website like News Bulletin 247. I am an expert in the field of economics and have written several books on the subject. I am a highly skilled writer and editor, and have a strong knowledge of social media. I am a highly respected member of the news industry, and my work has been featured in many major publications.
